Zoning Bylaw Refresh
What is Zoning?
Zoning is the means by which the community, through District Council, regulates land use and densities for specific properties within the District.
What are Zoning Bylaws?
Zoning Bylaw regulates the use of land, buildings, and other structures in a community. They divide land into different areas, called zones. Zones outline a set of rules for how land may be used and developed (where applicable). This can include residential, commercial, and industrial zones, as well as zones for civic uses or parks and green space.
Zoning Bylaw Refresh-Project Background
Ucluelet is updating its Zoning Bylaw to make it clearer, easier to use, and better aligned with the community’s needs. The update also reflects direction from the Official Community Plan (2022), which sets out the long-term land use vision for the community.
The Zoning Bylaw refresh will be a comprehensive process that also includes three focus areas: gentle density housing options, short-term rentals, and pre-zoning for multi-family housing.
Gentle Density Housing Options
What is Gentle density? Gentle density refers to the integration of small‑scale, multi-unit housing options in established neighbourhoods. Gentle density housing can provide more housing options between single-family dwellings and apartment buildings in existing communities while maintaining their character.
Some common gentle density housing forms include:
secondary suites
detached accessory dwelling units
duplexes
triplexes
small townhouse buildings
small-lot single-detached houses
There are zones in the current Zoning Bylaw that permit gentle density housing forms, but only in limited areas. There are opportunities to update existing gentle density zones to provide integration with existing neighbourhoods and more options. There will also be consideration of permitting more gentle density housing options in existing neighbourhoods currently zoned R-1 – Single Family Residential.
Short‑Term Rentals
With Ucluelet being a Resort Municipality, short-term rental units are an important aspect of the local economy. Short-term rentals can also affect the pricing and availability of long-term housing units, which can make it challenging for locals to find and afford housing, and challenging for the employees that businesses rely on to find appropriate housing.
What is a Short-Term Rental?
A short-term rental is a dwelling unit that is rented for a period of 90 days or less
The Zoning Bylaw Refresh provides an opportunity to engage the community on short-term rentals and refine the regulatory framework accordingly. The goal of refinements is to achieve a balance between supporting the needs of a Resort Municipality that relies on tourist accommodation, while mitigating impacts to long-term residents.
Multi‑Family Pre‑Zoning
Multi-family housing refers to buildings with multiple attached primary dwelling units, such as townhouse and apartment buildings.
With the goal of increasing the pace of new housing development in appropriate locations, the Zoning Bylaw Refresh will consider pre‑zoning land that is already designated Multi-Family Residential or Village Square Commercial in the OCP.
In a typical development process, a developer would apply to the District to “rezone” land before they could submit a building permit application. Pre‑zoning makes the development process faster and more predictable for projects that already align with the Official Community Plan, and where the infrastructure requirements can be identified, helping to reduce development costs and speed up the supply of new housing.
Project Updates- April 7, 2026
On February 23, 2026, the District hosted a community open house at the Ucluelet Community Centre from 3:00pm to 7:00pm. The event, facilitated by District staff and consultants from Urban Systems, was designed to seek input directly from community members about the Zoning Bylaw Refresh and key topics related to land use and housing.
The open house was a walk-through style event, so attendees could drop in at any time and review the information at their own pace. In total, there were 102 participants who joined the event. The informational boards that presented are included in the Zoning Bylaw Refresh Engagement Documents folder on the right side of the page.
A comprehensive What we Learned Document is included in the Zoning Bylaw Refresh Engagement Documents tab on the right of the page.
At the March 31, 2026 Regular Council Meeting staff presented the What we Learned Document to council. Additionally council passed two motions related to the Zoning Bylaw refresh on Gentle Density Housing Options and Short Term Rental Zoning. The full details of these motions can be found on the March 31, 2026 Regular Council Meeting Agenda
Project Updates- July 3, 2026
At the Tuesday, June 23, 2026 regular council meeting staff introduced the new District of Ucluelet Draft Zoning Bylaw. This draft was received by council for future consideration. Staff was also directed to refer the draft zoning bylaw to external agencies including:
•Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD)
• Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government
• Island Health
• WildSafe BC
• Tourism Ucluelet
• Pacific Rim School District 70
• Utility Providers (BC Hydro and Telus)
The full report to council and Draft Zoning Bylaw can be found in the list of important document
Project Updates- September, 24, 2026
The Zoning Bylaw Refresh is currently on pause until after the October 17 municipal election.
Page last updated: 24 Sep 2026, 08:43 AM
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Phone 250-534-9118 Email bpetrasek@ucluelet.ca
I am very concerned that pre-zoning will give poor protections to setbacks, green spaces, requirements for public amenities and the character of neighbourhoods where multi-story buildings and over-flow parking is not desired. The public should have access to development plans and the ability to push back on bad plans. When the lot is pre-zoned I fear developers will exploit the situation. Hyphocus Island is a prime example, if this is pre-zoned really valid community concerns could be overlooked. The future of the Wild Pacific Trail is another example where objectives in the OCP for future trail construction and protections of trail corridors on existing trails could be circumvented by developers who potentially have no need to go through rezoning. A good plan with housing will not excite public objections, a poor plan deserves push-back through public objections. Please council be careful how Ucluelet could be reshaped without the ability to consult. I live on a property that was in effect pre-zoned in the 1999 blanket rezoning. It caused no end of trouble for our collective. I see red flags on this proposal, especially where setbacks right to property lines and overly tall structures are pre-approving an urban style plan. Ukee is a rural community that likes our small town charm. We need housing, no argument, but not at any cost.